The Picture
Harry squinted at the picture, in the centre was glowing brighter, as if opening doors from a dark room into daylight.
"Hey guys, the pictures like… doing something," said Harry, as the light got brighter. He dropped it onto the ground,
"So much for the desk lamp," muttered Ron,
"Shh Ron! This is serious!" Said Hermione as the light got brighter still, blocking them out of view,
"Uhh, Harry, shut it!" Said Ginny,
"Ginny this is a photo not a diary!" said Harry, now shielding his eyes,
"Well… should we leave?" Asked Ron,
"But then the whole memory modification, because we would be exposed," said Hermione,
"Screw memory!" Said Ron
"Well what ever it's doing it's taking a while," muttered Ginny, suddenly the whole room folded away, and Harry was sucked into the picture. It was like entering a Pensieve, although everything was black and white.
Harry stood in the orphanage; he was just inside the entrance. The place was pretty much the same except the house was in the Christmas spirit. The stairway was circled with tinsel and a Christmas tree was in the corner. He saw a woman walking down the stairs; she was wearing a piece of holly around her hair. Harry recognised her as Mrs. Cole, or though she was quite a lot younger than when he had last seen her in the Pensieve, probably only a little older than Harry was.
He followed her slowly; she rubbed her shoulders, it was very cold. She peered out of the window, it was snowing heavily,
"Better not let anyone out today Mrs. Andor," she said to her boss, an old, kind looking woman who had just walked in from the kitchen. Mrs. Cole turned to her, "it's snowing heavily," she let the curtain fall.
"They are all asleep anyway," said Mrs. Andor dismissively,
"All of them behaved like angels today didn't they!" Said Mrs. Cole with a laugh,
"Of course!" Said Mrs. Andor, "it's Christmas Eve, they would have feared Santa wouldn't come if they were bad," she smiled, "But I caught Jacob trying to open his presents early, just before, he can be a little treacherous at times can't he!"
"Well you know, children will be –," she stopped, there was a knock at the door,
"At this hour?" Said Mrs. Cole, curiosity filling her voice. She walked over to the door; wiping her hands on her apron as she went. She opened it, Harry walked around to see a very pregnant woman standing at the doorway, leaning on the wall for support. Her limp hair hung in her face, and one hand rested on her stomach. Mrs. Cole just stood there in shock in shock for a second before Mrs. Andor came around.
"Oh dear," she said, she walked out onto the porch and put her arm around the woman Harry was sure was Tom's mother. "She is as cold as ice," said Mrs. Andor, "go get a cup of tea, and fresh clothes," she said, Merope groaned and grabbed onto her stomach with both hands.
"Never mind the cup of tea, call the doctor and get her a clean night gown," she set her onto a couch. "What's your name dear?" Asked Mrs. Andor,
"Merope," she answered before admitting another groan,
"Ok Merope, when did you start going into labour?" She asked,
"Ages ago," said Merope with difficulty, "I am sorry,"
"Shhh," said Mrs. Andor, "this happens a lot,"
"I called the doctor," said Mrs. Cole coming in from the other room, "he is on his way,"
"Well, he might not be here in time, please hurry. Go upstairs and get a bunch of blankets and the gown I asked for, we might end up delivering the baby ourselves," she called, "are you ok dear?" She asked Merope,
"It hurts," she replied,
"Yes, I know," said Mrs. Andor, a smile came slowly across Merope's face, "I hope the baby looks like his papa," she said, before letting out a gasp of pain. Mrs. Cole came running down the stairs.
The Memory flashed and Harry found himself standing beside Merope, the baby in her arms. She smiled down on it; Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Andor were beside her. The doctor hadn't come in time for he wasn't there.
"What's his name?" Asked Mrs. Cole, looking at the baby in awe; it was hard to believe that innocent baby could grow up to be Voldemort.
"Tom," said Merope, "after his father," she nodded; the baby was very quiet, wrapped up in a white, clean rug. Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Andor exchanged quick glances; obviously they thought it strange for the baby to be named after the father, who wasn't even there at his son's birth.
"And, his middle name can be… Marvolo, after my father," she said firmly, Harry wondered why she would make the middle name her father's name after he had been so cruel to her. "Tom Marvolo Riddle," she smiled down at the baby, "would you mind taking a picture?" Asked Marope, "I just… want to give him something to remember me by," Mrs. Cole hesitated before standing up from her kneeling position and getting a camera from the draw in the desk at the other side of the room. Mrs. Cole came back around, and took a single picture.
Harry was sucked out again; he felt the hard floor against his head,
"Ouch," he said, getting up,
"What the bloody hell was that?" Asked Ron,
"Memory," said Harry, picking up the photo and looking at it before pocketing it, Dumbledore may wish to see it.
"Of Tom's birth?" Asked Hermione,
"Yep," said Harry,
"Oh… gross," said Ron, Harry rolled his eyes,
"I didn't see anything," he said, he glanced around the room again, "well the Horcrux obviously isn't here," he said with a sigh, "let's go," he walked over to the lamp and switched it off before opening the hatch and climbing down the stairs.
Harry entered the office; Professor McGonagall had allowed him to go to her office to speak to Dumbledore.
"Hello Harry. How did it go?" Asked Dumbledore,
"No Horcrux," he said, pulling the photo out of his pocket, "there was this though, it was a memory of the night Tom was born," he walked over to the frame and held it in front of it. Dumbledore frowned, making a circular motion with his hand, the picture grew red.
"Interesting," said Dumbledore,
"What is?" Queried Harry, lowering the picture from Dumbledore's gaze;
"A memory, yes, but there is something more, Harry, seeming I can not really do any magic, except for sense it …being a portrait. Can you please circle your hand above it and mutter 'declaros,'" Harry frowned,
"Yes sir," he did as he was told, the picture grew bright again and a miniature version of the Dark Mark came out of it, "what does that mean?" Asked Harry,
"It means Harry, that is a Horcrux," said Dumbledore eyes twinkling out of his portrait,
"It's a what?" Asked Harry, dropping it like it was contaminated; the Dark Mark disappeared, "b-but I thought, it was the cup and… all that!" He said,
"Clearly we were wrong,"
"So… We have got three of the four Horcruxes, also the one in Voldemort," he picked up the photo again,
"That also means that you have to go after Voldemort now, you don't have to look for anymore Horcruxes," Harry was still getting his head around the photo being a Horcrux when it wasn't even protected.
"WHAT?" He said, looking at Dumbledore, he turned in a circle, or though he was Happy he didn't have to look for Horcruxes anymore, this was also confusing him deeply. Dumbledore remained calm,
"Harry, I believe the end is closer than you expected,"
"The end? What do you mean by that?" He asked, getting angry for no reason,
"The end of Voldemort," said Dumbledore with a small smile, Harry's heart was beating in his chest; he was speechless. "When do I go? What about the snake?" Asked Harry, trying to calm down,
"The snake will be with Voldemort, I know he keeps it around him all the time now; and you will need at least a week to prepare, also you need to find Voldemort's location and have others to help you, not just the four of you. Contact the Order, some of my friends who I have made over the years, they should fight." this was all too much for Harry,
"So you are saying it is almost time?"
"Yes Harry! This is a good thing! No more looking for Horcruxes, there is only two left and they are both within the one place! Finish Voldemort and his snake! Finish them and it'll be over!"
"But how do I destroy this without using the spell I found?" Asked Harry,
"I think that spell was made to only be used once, if you keep using it, it will kill you," said Dumbledore,
"So… What do I do with a photo," an image sprang to his mind of ripping it up. He clasped it between his fingers and tried, but it wouldn't,
"That won't work Harry, he most likely has charms on it, was it hard to get?" He asked, Harry shook his head,
"Hermione found it in the attic, it was just there, no spells or anything," Dumbledore frowned at this piece of information.
"Odd, very odd," said Dumbledore, frowning.
"So what am I doing with this?" Asked Harry holding up the photo, trying to get onto the subject of destroying it again, "I helped destroy the first one, but the second time I was in hospital so my friends did it for me,"
"So you only destroyed one?" Asked Dumbledore, Harry nodded, "and you say, the spell affected all of you?" Harry nodded again,
"Why?"
"Because it is possible that the Horcrux drew energy from each of you, seeming you are powerful and also another number, it would have been harder because there were less people to take energy from, therefore taking it in larger proportions, making your friends faint."
"So… if I have more people in the room?" Said Harry,
"Most likely the spell will not have such an effect on you," said Dumbledore,
"How can I get more people in the room without informing them of the Horcrux? Won't they wonder what happened?" Asked Harry,
"Not if there is enough people in the room they won't," said Dumbledore,
"So you are saying, at a time… like dinner?" Asked Harry, Dumbledore nodded.
"So, why are we doing this in the Great Hall?" Queried Ron,
"He has already said it a million times," said Hermione,
"No he said it twice, and I didn't get it the first time," replied Ron,
"Ron, you don't have to do anything, just sit there," said Ginny rolling her eyes. Ron made no other objections as they entered the doors,
"I'm just thinking about all the teachers I have to catch up with, to get all the work we missed, we are behind now," said Hermione nervously,
"Will you guys focus please?" Said Harry, playing with the photograph which Hermione had put a potion in earlier; she did it so the ingredients wouldn't spill out. Harry sat at the end of the row,
"Better do it now before anyone sees us," said Harry, he placed the picture on the table and muttered, "Horcruxiodestra," inaudibly,he tapped it with his wand. The room went quiet and the Horcrux drew in everyone's energy, a ripple effect went across the Great Hall and the Horcrux exploded, its flames going high into the air. Everyone stared at them,
"Oh crap," said Ginny.
Yes I know short chapter, but then again, long chapters I reckon are boring. Please R&R bit of a cliff-hanger, but not too bad. Let's aim for 26 reviews for one chapter, set a record. Because so far it has been 25 in a chapter (for this story) not blackmailing! Just thought it would be awesome! Ok thanks for all your reviews, as usual!
Pheonixxsong
'The end is closer than we expected.'